


Carry yourself

by soundsaboutright



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Character Study, M/M, Sparring, Training
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-10
Updated: 2018-02-10
Packaged: 2019-03-16 10:54:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 686
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13634853
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/soundsaboutright/pseuds/soundsaboutright
Summary: Musings on magic, energy and Alec's body.An Alec character study through Magnus' eyes.





	Carry yourself

It feels like heat, in a way, Magnus supposes.

Magic.

In the way how, after a thorough workout, your body becomes aware of its own radiating warmth, like an aura around you, once you stop moving and stay still; the dissipating tension still tingling inside every fiber of muscle.

A prickling along the skin of your wrists, and suddenly, you stand in your own presence, bodily, aware.

That’s a way his magic can feel to him.

A way that _Alec_ feels like to Magnus, too, sometimes; strangely, and then again not. Alec has his very own kind of energy.

Everyone does, and every single one is unlike the next; Downworlders, Shadowhunters, even every human being. If you are sensitive to it- like Magnus has always been, attuned to currents of power, out of necessity to master them- with practice you will sense it moving in their bodies; energy in motion.

Maybe it is an ancient kind of residual, natural magic. Or maybe it’s the essence of life force itself.

And maybe there’s no difference really between the two, for Magnus.

It’s in the way a person holds themselves, the space they demand within a room; the way you seem to notice their presence immediately, or the way that you just don’t.

In some it is subtle, something to only catch on subconsciously, in others it’s plainer to read, once you know where to look.

_Alec carries most of it in his chest._

It's where his every pulse of power seems to begin. What defines his posture, the tone of his presence to Magnus.

The light bow of Alec’s head might be a life-long habit cultivated due to his height. To refer to others. To not stand out too much. Maybe your body imitates aspects of your person just like that. Maybe it’s more of a correlation.

The subtle forward bend of shoulders, rounding in, the prominence and definition of his broad and muscled chest, all in powerful protection of what flows within.

Magnus can sense Alec’s very being there.

Can sense it when Alec is above him, or next to him, late at night in bed.

Alec is there, and every one of Magnus senses hum with _knowing_. Everything seems to break around the presence of Alec’s body then, the shield of his shoulders, like light and dark and currents of air, waves of warmth and even sounds.

Magnus _knows_ where Alec is inside this space around them.

Whenever they are in a room together.

_Alec carries less of it in his lower body._

The upward tilt of Alec's pelvis when standing might just be his body’s way of finding a new balance and center, with the weight of a head tipped forward. It makes the curve of Alec’s spine less pronounced, hips shifted forward, too,  lower back muscles tense with it; abdominals firm.

Around these parts of Alec, a lot of energies and needs have been kept, held in, denied. For too long. Blocked the path to his legs, and the very ground he stands on; his connection with it.

In the scenario of a fight, that is where Magnus would attack. The archer’s legs. The weakest links maybe in a powerful body. To shake the ground beneath those feet.

But then again it might mean nothing, and there will be no weakness there to be found.

Because even as these are the challenges hinted at by his body, Alec has learned to know where his conscious decisions must be ever stronger for exactly those reasons.

The ways he stands and positions himself in this world have become surer.

It might not stop Magnus from trying to sweep those feet out from under him in one of their playful yet always competitive sparring sessions.

Might not stop him from pinning Alec to the floor, with a grin, hovering his own heat over Alec's underneath him.

Because Magnus knows, when Alec is splayed out before him in their bed, all loose and pliant, that the curves of his ass are round and supple in a way you wouldn’t believe, had you only seen him standing there.

**Author's Note:**

> I don't really know what this is, I wanted to talk about Alec's bu... body in a way like that for some time, and a certain video of a training session that you might have seen too prompted this...  
> Maybe a bit different than usual, but always, if you feel so inclined let me know what you think<3


End file.
